Chemical consequences of radioactive decay. 1. Study of 249Cf ingrowth into crystalline 249BkBr3: a new crystalline phase of CfBr3

Spectrophotometric and x-ray powder diffraction methods have been applied to a study of the ingrowth of californium-249 by β- decay of berkelium-249 in crystalline 249BkBr3. It was found that the Cf daughter grows in with the same oxidation state and crystal structure as the parent. Thus, six-coordinate BkBr3 (AlCl3-type monoclinic structure) generates six-coordinate CfBr3, and eight-coordinate BkBr3 (PuBr3-type orthorhombic structure) generates eight-coordinate CfBr3, a previously unknown form of CfBr3. It was also found that the daughter Cf(III) in the BkBr3 parent compound can be reduced to Cf(II) by treatment with H2, as it can in pure CfBr3. 5 figures